Former NFL Player Kyle Turley Admits He Thinks About Suicide

Kyle Turley was once a stud lineman at San Diego State University. Turley was a consensus All American in 1997 and the #7 pick of the 1998 draft by the New Orleans Saints.

Turley had some good NFL years and definitely will be remembered for throwing a Jets players helmet almost 30 yards during a 2001 game, after watching Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks take a dirty hit.

Turley had some angry moments then, and according to U-T San Diego, that may have been the beginning of some mental health troubles for Turley.

Kyle admitted to the site that he takes medication because he sometimes thinks about committing suicide, and he once had to call a league sponsored help line one night when he seriously considered it.

“I’ve got young kids,” said Turley, a father of a 2-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son. “It’s scary as hell. It keeps me up at night. It’s something that weighs on me heavily.”

Turley is now one of more than 4,000 former players involved in a concussion lawsuit against the NFL, and says he suffers bouts of vertigo and light sensitivity.

He stated that he has no other family history that involved brain disease, or pointed to suicidal thoughts.

“I’ve got as good of a chance as anybody of going down that road into Crazy Land or into Super Crazy Disease Land,” Turley said. “I’ve got every opportunity to probably be in the same boat in the future, and I don’t know how far in the future. It’s very, very disturbing, very frustrating, very stressful to deal with, especially having kids.”